Saturday, January 17, 2009

I was in the mood for Italian tonight, but really wanted to do something without tomatoes for once. When I saw Susan's post today on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen for scaloppine with a lemon-olive sauce, I knew what to do. I'm not a big fan of olives (they honestly make me gag) so I used her cutlets to make a faux veal scallopine based on a recipe from The Sporanos Family Cookbook. I was very pleased with the results, and I think this is a meal both vegans and non-vegans will enjoy since it seems that most non-vegan will agree that veal is particularly cruel. In the background of the pic you can see what I am calling an orzo risotto. I will post it tomorrow.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of the margarine and 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute for about 10 mins, until nicely browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from pan.

3. Add remaining margarine and oil to the pan. Dredge seitan in the flour, then fry in the pan for about 1 min per side, until lightly browned. Remove from pan.

4. Add marsala and let bubble, stirring constantly to thicken. Add mushrooms back to the pan and stir. Right before serving, and seitan to the pan, turning to coat with the liquid. Add a splash of water, if needed. Serve immediately.

I just tried this recipe, and it was great! Or, I should say, I tried my usual version of recipes, in which I spaz out and forget steps and replace ingredients. I subbed natural peanut butter for the tahini, and I ended up not steaming the cutlets first. I braised them for a little longer. They came out maybe not as firm as they would have steamed, but they were delicious. My household ominvore loved them!

That looks really awesome. I'm looking for something impressive and nice-looking just like this (which might stand up to judgemental omni-tasting too), to bring to this relative gathering thing. These people will be having plank-steak with various kinds of meat, so I want to demonstrate a point silently.. The "serve immediately" is a problem though - I'll have time early the night before to prepare the seitan, and then just about time to swing by at home and grab it to go there late afternoon/evening. I guess there I'll be able to heat it a smidgeon if I bring it in a baking dish. Does that sound like too much sitting around and going to mush for this stuff?

OMG! These were excellent!! I used whatever ingredients I had on-hand, which means I did a few substitutions and it still worked great. I didn't use the dried shitake mushrooms and I used peanut butter instead of tahini/cashew butter. I replaced the marsala with red wine and added some soy sauce whilst it was simmering to give it a more 'beefy' flavor. The result was tender and juicy with great texture. Hourah!!

Hi, I did your recipe for last night dinner and it was a hit. Easy, quick and more than tasty. Your blog give me a boost every time, as a mother of five, meals are not always say unanimous, even my husband compliment the try ;) Thanks.